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Gorgeous Treetop Dwellings in the Mexican Rainforest

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Alejandro Sánchez García Arquitectos designed the Chipicas Town Houses, four independent single buildings inside a private garden in downtown Valle de Bravo, Mexico.

The architects have devised a an unpretentious floating lantern design that is timeless and transcendent.

In a treetop bedroom, glass from ceiling to floor completely exposes the surrounding rainforest.

The result is a gorgeous place to sleep that appears suspended high up in the rainforest canopy.

The design is simple and unpretentious, opening a full wall of glass in even the childrens’ bunk rooms overlooking the surrounding jungle.

Because of the tiny garden setting, an extremely vertical design is devised for each building to protect most of the vegetation.

The Chipicas Houses were designed with two sides of the façade made of floor to ceiling windows and two sides with a skin made of wooden lattice to gain a sense of privacy.

The backs of each of the buildings are entirely covered in a wooden rain screen that offsets the textural complexity of the growing wood nearby.

From the outside, these rain screens seem impenetrable and solid – but from inside, they simply filter the light.

A completely novel view is created down under the overhangs.

(Because these screens are not connected all the way down.)

The texture of the wood offers a foil for the surrounding jungle.

At night, these garden structures glow like lanterns in their rainforest setting.

The verticality is a solution to the small footprint needed within the garden.

With the hyper vertical plan, stairs become a feature.

A lovely tension is created between walls of glass and walls of rain screen.

The zen-like structures have something of Japan about them.

There is a sumptuousness to the contrast of the civilized white floors, walls and sofas in the interiors, appearing to float within the dank rainforest setting.

A design that is just a real delight.